Antitheft devices which attach to an automobile steering wheel have been known heretofore, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,127 to Johnson. Such an antitheft device for attachment to a steering wheel of an automobile includes an elongated body member having a passage extending along a longitudinal axis thereof, an elongated rod member adapted to move in telescopic fashion in the passage of the body member along the axis, opposed hooks for engaging inside portions of the steering wheel and lock means associated with the body member for engaging the rod member within the passage to lock the rod member within the passage in a stationary position with respect to the body member at any one of a plurality of positions. While the antitheft device described above is functional, it nevertheless includes several defects. For example, both extension and retraction telescopic movements of the rod member need a key to unlock the lock means. Another problem with such device is that it presents pry points wherein a rigid pin or arcuate ruler-like thin objects can be inserted through a gap between the passage and periphery of the rod member to reach a spherical bearing of the lock means and further press it down by overcoming the bias force of a spring member thereon to release it from engaging the rod member in a groove thereof that causes the device to unlock.
It is accordingly a primary object of this invention to provide an automobile steering lock that overcomes the foregoing defects associated with prior art devices.
Another object of this invention is to provide an automobile steering lock that performs non-return, extension only, to function as in a locking condition.
A further object of this invention is to provide a locking device wherein the locking mechanism is totally enclosed therein and includes no area susceptible to prying by a crowbar, rigid pin or the like.